The present invention relates to a machine for transporting paper signatures or the like to a processing line such as the collating conveyor of a binding machine.
Conventionally, the pages of magazines are supplied from the printing operation to the binding operation in the form of several groups of signatures, a signature being a multiple sheet folded assembly having a spine defined by the folded margin. At the binding operation, the groups of signatures are collated and bound to form the magazine.
In some binding operations, the groups of signatures are supplied to the bindery on pallets. Workers lift stacks of signatures from the pallets and place the stacks into receiver hoppers which supply the collating conveyor of a binding machine. During lifting and placing of the stacks, the workers fan and massage the signatures to loosen the signatures and help keep the newly printed signatures from sticking together during further processing.
Typically, the receiving hoppers for the collating conveyor of the binding machine are spaced a substantial distance above the floor. This requires that a worker of average height standing on the floor lift the stacks over the shoulders in order to place the stacks in the receiver hoppers. Such lifting is in contradiction to OSHA standards. Moreover, repetitive placing of the signatures and fanning and massaging of the signatures over a long period of time can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Machinery exists for automatically stripping signatures from a stack and for transporting the signatures to further processing apparatus. By way of example, Newsome U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,896 discloses a machine in which signatures in a stack are formed into a first running shingle having a rough and non-uniform setback between adjacent signatures in the shingle. The signatures of the first running shingle are collected in a stack and then are formed into a second running shingle having a substantially uniform setback which is significantly greater than that of the first shingle. In the patented machine, however, the flow of signatures through the machine is such that the second running shingle is disposed at a lower elevation than the first shingle. Thus, the machine does not readily lend itself to the loading of receiver hoppers which are located a substantial distance above a floor. Moreover, the ultimate output of the patented transporting machine is substantially continuous and is not precisely correlated with the demand requirements of the processing apparatus which is supplied by the machine.